Rantings of an idealist / pragmatist

I am reading Uncle Tom's Cabin right now, and the over arching theme, at least for me, is that evil hurts the perpetrator just as much as the one it is enacted upon.
Simon Legree -the repugnant slave owner who sexually abuses young girl slaves, and ultimately kills Tom- is made out as a horrible person in the book. Yet, at the end, you get a feel for his suffering. After he has killed Simon, and he is confronted by Maser' George, he falls to the ground, sobbing, so pained by the sorrow for what he has done. His pain is greater than that of Cassy, or any of the others whom he has abused. Even Tom.
Now, maybe I am strange in this, or shouldn't feel it, but I feel such sympathy for Simon.
How many of us get caught in things that we know are wrong, yet can't seem to stop doing?
Why do we do these things?
I believe that we do these things--and really, everything-- to try to either perpetuate something, or hide it. He was trying to run from his pain / anger / remorse by taking his anger out on others. He felt powerful by exercising his power over the powerless.
Yet, he still felt horrible about what he was doing. It was tearing him up.
It is obvious that he still had some humanity, whether or not he let it show.
He needed love just as much as anyone. Probably more so. And yet, when one reads it, one feels like he is the ultimate evil. But isn't it the ultimate evil that need our love?
Who are we to deny it?
And how is this like real life? I believe that there are just as many people out there now that need to be loved, regardless of what they have done.
We need to be careful in our selectiveness. Yes, we shouldn't put ourselves in places where we will become evil as well, but we should never deny someone love. Ever. Who knows when we will be in the same situation?
(Note: Please remember that I am talking about plutonic love here.)

And all this talk about evil and good is making me think.
I don't think there really is a such thing as a person being good or evil.
I believe that a person, at their core, is good. No matter what. Actions that are influenced by those around us, misunderstanding, or different paradigms cause a veil over that inner person--our inner self-- and our exterior that everyone sees.
Understanding someone is to understand their motives, and to love them.
Not until you love and accept them are you capable of understanding them.
Understanding someone is also to understand yourself.
No one has a motive that you cannot find in yourself in at least some degree.

If everyone truly tried to understand themselves and others, the world would be a much, much happier place.

But, maybe I'm just too idealist / pragmatic. I don't know.